Bell whispers to Erudisia and Marliza, "I do hope Meredith can appease him, he really does not seem like a bad sort. He's been polite and patient as he chats while loosening up."
She sighs as she mentally goes over the spells she does have and what might be of use.
“O… o…. o…,” the slight sound with only a distant resonance of brutal death comes from the minotaur skeleton as the axe goes limp and then just drops with a clang to the floor. It clasps its hands under its chin in supplication. “... a maze,” the deathly voice continues, “... I love mazes…” Its soulless eyes are big as teacups bearing poisoned tea as it bends over watching Meredith draw. “Yes… don’t make it easy… that’s good, OH! Yes, now there’s only one way to… OH, now it’s much harder. Only a minotaur could solve this one. You know... I... I am extra good at mazes…”
When Meredith finishes the puzzle, the skeleton’s towering rib cage bends down and the empty eyes, with religious gratitude, fall plaintively on Meredith’s pen. “May I… try…?”
(You have successfully befriended and utterly distracted the treasure’s final ward!!! Assuming Meredith says “yes,” how would you three like to spend the next five minutes?
Seven treasure chests rest on low tables positioned against the north and east walls, and two tall wardrobes stand against the south wall.)
(Meredith should stay with the Minotaur, so that she can keep making more and more mazes?)
Erudisia returns quietly to the group, gives the bag of holding to Bell. She says nothing, only making eye contact and nodding her head in the direction of the vault, specifically the chests on low tables at the far wall.
Erudisia then turns to the wall to the south. She investigates and takes the contents of the wardrobes if she can — presuming they hold collateral for when people had to give their belongings to support their stake.
Bell will try to move and approach the low table chests by slipping past Meredith and the Maze Dazed Minotaur.
Stealth: 19
Open or not, she will poke the chests and/or exposed treasures with her dagger - to make certain they are not 'last line of defense' mimics. If all seems 'clear', she will proceed to dump as much as she is able into the bag of holding.
Meredith gladly agrees and begins designing more intricate a varied mazes based on her recollection of psdt perusals keeping the skeleton focused on the task at hand and not on the others.
The chests are filled with gold. Sensing that there is no time for an accurate accounting, you quickly shovel what feels like 9000 gp, which happens to be all of it, into the bag of holding. In the wardrobe, Erudisia discovers a number of what appear to be magic items which likewise find their way into the bag.
The undead Minotaur skeleton, lying on the vault floor propped on its elbows, chews on the quill as it grunts and cogitates over the mazes Meredith draws for it, plainly in heaven. Er, hell. You get what I mean. Five minutes have passed…
Bell looks over at Erudisia with a "time to make haste and blow this place" arm gesture.
Stealth Check: 17
Bell will skirt the room and try to keep out of the line of sight of the Bone Guard Minotaur as she hauls the Bag of Holding out of the vault and back to the security room for Little One to keep an eye on until we ALL can leave the vault area.
Erudisa holds her hand out soundlessly to Bell, asking for the bag of holding.
If given, she takes hold of it, gives her amulet to Bell, place it over her neck, and unplugs the top. In a swirl of Erudisia and the swag bag vanish into her genie’s demiplane for the next 4 hours. The plug then flies back into place, to seamlessly blend in.
[While inside, you can hear the area around your vessel as if you were in its space. You can remain inside the vessel up to a number of hours equal to twice your proficiency bonus.]
Erudisia will place the bag on a chaise long, and immediately begin to take a short rest, listening to what the wind brings her as Bell sneaks past the minotaur. At least this way, none in the casino can take their stolen goods from them, nor can a search reveal it.
Once Erudisia placed the amulet around her neck, Bell will do the above mentioned 'stealthy movement'. Said Stealth made even easier since she is NOT dragging a packed bag of holding with her.
Inside her planar space, Erudisia catches her breath. There are several tears in her dress, and the colour has been stained by her silvery half-elven blood. She tuts, pinning together what she can.
She listen to the subtle scrapes and other noises of silence that Bell makes as she effects their escape.
The bag of holding, Erudisia kicks beneath a chaise longe. She taps one finger to her chin. On the fourth shelf of the third bookshelf that borders the hexagonal arrangement of her amulet’s hideaway, there is a big embossed book. As I have time. It is well thumbed. She sits with Tusk Love to while away the time, beginning on chapter 14, her favourite chapter.
You retreat from the vault, leaving the minotaur skeleton to continue working through mazes. Without looking up, it absently says, in its deathly voice, "Bye." Then the vault door shuts and you hear cylinders and crossbars scrape back into place. You retrace your steps to the security room, where Marliza is staring down the guards in the cell, and Little One stands guard in the hallway.
"Where's Erudisia?," the jackalwere teen asks quietly, but then notices the elven warlock's chesspiece around Bell's neck and recalls earlier discussions revolving around removal of the treasure from the premises. She joins Bell and Meredith.
Little One, at the door, says in a rumbling undertone, "A gnome -- Togglepocket, I assume -- has been peeking out at me from the doorway through which the two devils came. 'Seems he's scared to come out. If you want to talk to him, he's there. Otherwise, I suggest we retrace our steps."
" We go. That devil killed poor Petal, and I, Talulah, wont spend another minute in this terrible place. Come along Tabitha and Velma. You too, Mr Big!"
" I will certainly be writing a sternly worded letter to the management though!"
Much quieter, " Lets go! Out the way we came in! I want to swing by the circus and let the animals out on the way to the exit..."
Your group passes quietly through the door at the end of the passageway through which you first came. It leads to the perpendicular passageway whose eastern door leads back to the casino bar area. Immediately in front of you, on the corridor’s northern wall, is the double-door leading to what you believe is the animal training and holding room for the casino circus. I forgot to mention before a sign on the door reading:
“Cirque Maladomini Employees ONLY.”
Talking was previously heard through the door. A quick attempt to listen through the door reveals more voices or perhaps the same voices as before, now speaking quietly. Someone may be snoring. A slight odor of hay escapes through the crack under the door.
The lock clicks with the application of the key disc. The door opens, and out comes a strong smell of hay and animal musk.
Inside you see an assortment of furnishings and occupants.
Floor-to-ceiling bars form two larger hay-lined cages against the north wall, and the 3 baboons trapped within the northwest cage start shrieking when the form of Little One looms in the doorway along with Meredith, Bell, and Marliza. Their shrieking sets off a lion trapped in the northeast cage which begins to growl a warning, a sound like a siege engine rolling on gravel.
The baboons also awaken the three tiefling performers who were until now sleeping on cots along the walls, who shout to the baboons, “Easy Barbie! Baby, calm down! Bill! Relax!, you’re making Nklanklah nervous!,” before turning to look at their visitors and themselves take reflexive steps away from the ogre in the room, one tripping over her hula hoop next to the bottle with the word "flammable" painted upon it, one tripping over their banjo with a twang!, and the third tripping over nothing in particular but naturally pulling his body into a ball and rolling back up onto his feet. "Whoa there! Erm, this is a erm... erm, employees only!? Sorry, we'll be out to perform soon enough but the animals don't like visitors as you see!," says the acrobatic one.
As he speaks, you note 3 crates resting on the floor in one corner, each one painted with the words, “Cirque Maladomini.” A portable cage on rollers sits beside them. A wooden chest sits against the east wall near the biggest cage. Resting on the lid of the chest is a ring of keys. There is a locked double door in the middle of the east wall.
Meredith ignored the tieflings walking up an arms length from the lions cage, dipping into one of the nearby bags and throwing a fishhead the big cats way.
" Whose a big fuzzy death machine? You, yes you are."
Meredith ignored the tieflings walking up an arms length from the lions cage, dipping into one of the nearby bags and throwing a fishhead the big cats way.
" Whose a big fuzzy death machine? You, yes you are."
Animal Friendship- DC 13 Wis.
The lion roars when Meredith approaches, a hackle-raising sound that sends the baboons into a frenzy of bouncing, rattling the bars of their cages, and shrieking. The tieflings look on in horror and shout to the bard, “You don’t want to get so close!,” and “She’s insane!,” and “There goes her arm!,” and rush to pull her from the cage before it’s too late. But they are too late, though astonishment soon replaces their anxious warnings.
For Meredith’s spell calms the big cat, which snaps up the fish head, instantly, and the beast now begins purring like a fairy forge on Haste.
Bell whispers to Erudisia and Marliza, "I do hope Meredith can appease him, he really does not seem like a bad sort. He's been polite and patient as he chats while loosening up."
She sighs as she mentally goes over the spells she does have and what might be of use.
“O… o…. o…,” the slight sound with only a distant resonance of brutal death comes from the minotaur skeleton as the axe goes limp and then just drops with a clang to the floor. It clasps its hands under its chin in supplication. “... a maze,” the deathly voice continues, “... I love mazes…” Its soulless eyes are big as teacups bearing poisoned tea as it bends over watching Meredith draw. “Yes… don’t make it easy… that’s good, OH! Yes, now there’s only one way to… OH, now it’s much harder. Only a minotaur could solve this one. You know... I... I am extra good at mazes…”
When Meredith finishes the puzzle, the skeleton’s towering rib cage bends down and the empty eyes, with religious gratitude, fall plaintively on Meredith’s pen. “May I… try…?”
(You have successfully befriended and utterly distracted the treasure’s final ward!!! Assuming Meredith says “yes,” how would you three like to spend the next five minutes?
Seven treasure chests rest on low tables positioned against the north and east walls, and two tall wardrobes stand against the south wall.)
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
(Meredith should stay with the Minotaur, so that she can keep making more and more mazes?)
Erudisia returns quietly to the group, gives the bag of holding to Bell. She says nothing, only making eye contact and nodding her head in the direction of the vault, specifically the chests on low tables at the far wall.
Erudisia then turns to the wall to the south. She investigates and takes the contents of the wardrobes if she can — presuming they hold collateral for when people had to give their belongings to support their stake.
Bell will try to move and approach the low table chests by slipping past Meredith and the Maze Dazed Minotaur.
Stealth: 19
Open or not, she will poke the chests and/or exposed treasures with her dagger - to make certain they are not 'last line of defense' mimics. If all seems 'clear', she will proceed to dump as much as she is able into the bag of holding.
Meredith gladly agrees and begins designing more intricate a varied mazes based on her recollection of psdt perusals keeping the skeleton focused on the task at hand and not on the others.
The chests are filled with gold. Sensing that there is no time for an accurate accounting, you quickly shovel what feels like 9000 gp, which happens to be all of it, into the bag of holding. In the wardrobe, Erudisia discovers a number of what appear to be magic items which likewise find their way into the bag.
The undead Minotaur skeleton, lying on the vault floor propped on its elbows, chews on the quill as it grunts and cogitates over the mazes Meredith draws for it, plainly in heaven. Er, hell. You get what I mean. Five minutes have passed…
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
Bell looks over at Erudisia with a "time to make haste and blow this place" arm gesture.
Stealth Check: 17
Bell will skirt the room and try to keep out of the line of sight of the Bone Guard Minotaur as she hauls the Bag of Holding out of the vault and back to the security room for Little One to keep an eye on until we ALL can leave the vault area.(Belay that, Bell)
Erudisa holds her hand out soundlessly to Bell, asking for the bag of holding.
If given, she takes hold of it, gives her amulet to Bell, place it over her neck, and unplugs the top. In a swirl of Erudisia and the swag bag vanish into her genie’s demiplane for the next 4 hours. The plug then flies back into place, to seamlessly blend in.
[While inside, you can hear the area around your vessel as if you were in its space. You can remain inside the vessel up to a number of hours equal to twice your proficiency bonus.]
Erudisia will place the bag on a chaise long, and immediately begin to take a short rest, listening to what the wind brings her as Bell sneaks past the minotaur. At least this way, none in the casino can take their stolen goods from them, nor can a search reveal it.
(belayed and adjusted)
Once Erudisia placed the amulet around her neck, Bell will do the above mentioned 'stealthy movement'.
Said Stealth made even easier since she is NOT dragging a packed bag of holding with her.
Inside her planar space, Erudisia catches her breath. There are several tears in her dress, and the colour has been stained by her silvery half-elven blood. She tuts, pinning together what she can.
She listen to the subtle scrapes and other noises of silence that Bell makes as she effects their escape.
The bag of holding, Erudisia kicks beneath a chaise longe. She taps one finger to her chin. On the fourth shelf of the third bookshelf that borders the hexagonal arrangement of her amulet’s hideaway, there is a big embossed book. As I have time. It is well thumbed. She sits with Tusk Love to while away the time, beginning on chapter 14, her favourite chapter.
You retreat from the vault, leaving the minotaur skeleton to continue working through mazes. Without looking up, it absently says, in its deathly voice, "Bye." Then the vault door shuts and you hear cylinders and crossbars scrape back into place. You retrace your steps to the security room, where Marliza is staring down the guards in the cell, and Little One stands guard in the hallway.
"Where's Erudisia?," the jackalwere teen asks quietly, but then notices the elven warlock's chesspiece around Bell's neck and recalls earlier discussions revolving around removal of the treasure from the premises. She joins Bell and Meredith.
Little One, at the door, says in a rumbling undertone, "A gnome -- Togglepocket, I assume -- has been peeking out at me from the doorway through which the two devils came. 'Seems he's scared to come out. If you want to talk to him, he's there. Otherwise, I suggest we retrace our steps."
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
" We go. That devil killed poor Petal, and I, Talulah, wont spend another minute in this terrible place. Come along Tabitha and Velma. You too, Mr Big!"
" I will certainly be writing a sternly worded letter to the management though!"
Much quieter, " Lets go! Out the way we came in! I want to swing by the circus and let the animals out on the way to the exit..."
Meredith headed for the door.
Erudisia smiles inside her hideaway, as she listens. Very clever.
Your group passes quietly through the door at the end of the passageway through which you first came. It leads to the perpendicular passageway whose eastern door leads back to the casino bar area. Immediately in front of you, on the corridor’s northern wall, is the double-door leading to what you believe is the animal training and holding room for the casino circus. I forgot to mention before a sign on the door reading:
“Cirque Maladomini Employees ONLY.”
Talking was previously heard through the door. A quick attempt to listen through the door reveals more voices or perhaps the same voices as before, now speaking quietly. Someone may be snoring. A slight odor of hay escapes through the crack under the door.
You are now situated like so:
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
Meredith takes one of the multiple cards they have now and tries it on the circus door....
The lock clicks with the application of the key disc. The door opens, and out comes a strong smell of hay and animal musk.
Inside you see an assortment of furnishings and occupants.
Floor-to-ceiling bars form two larger hay-lined cages against the north wall, and the 3 baboons trapped within the northwest cage start shrieking when the form of Little One looms in the doorway along with Meredith, Bell, and Marliza. Their shrieking sets off a lion trapped in the northeast cage which begins to growl a warning, a sound like a siege engine rolling on gravel.
The baboons also awaken the three tiefling performers who were until now sleeping on cots along the walls, who shout to the baboons, “Easy Barbie! Baby, calm down! Bill! Relax!, you’re making Nklanklah nervous!,” before turning to look at their visitors and themselves take reflexive steps away from the ogre in the room, one tripping over her hula hoop next to the bottle with the word "flammable" painted upon it, one tripping over their banjo with a twang!, and the third tripping over nothing in particular but naturally pulling his body into a ball and rolling back up onto his feet. "Whoa there! Erm, this is a erm... erm, employees only!? Sorry, we'll be out to perform soon enough but the animals don't like visitors as you see!," says the acrobatic one.
As he speaks, you note 3 crates resting on the floor in one corner, each one painted with the words, “Cirque Maladomini.” A portable cage on rollers sits beside them. A wooden chest sits against the east wall near the biggest cage. Resting on the lid of the chest is a ring of keys. There is a locked double door in the middle of the east wall.
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
Meredith ignored the tieflings walking up an arms length from the lions cage, dipping into one of the nearby bags and throwing a fishhead the big cats way.
" Whose a big fuzzy death machine? You, yes you are."
Animal Friendship- DC 13 Wis.
The lion roars when Meredith approaches, a hackle-raising sound that sends the baboons into a frenzy of bouncing, rattling the bars of their cages, and shrieking. The tieflings look on in horror and shout to the bard, “You don’t want to get so close!,” and “She’s insane!,” and “There goes her arm!,” and rush to pull her from the cage before it’s too late. But they are too late, though astonishment soon replaces their anxious warnings.
For Meredith’s spell calms the big cat, which snaps up the fish head, instantly, and the beast now begins purring like a fairy forge on Haste.
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
Meredith let out a long slow breath and whispered under her breath, " Lets have a chat."
( Speak With Animals)
In Baboon- " You like it here or you wanna get out?"
In Lion- " You like it here or you wanna get out?"
((Are we scuppered if they unexpectedly like it here?))